Toronto Star
May 15, 2008
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/425826
OTTAWAPrime Minister Stephen Harper plans to stand in Parliament on June 11 to make a long-awaited apology for rampant abuses at native residential schools during the last century.
Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl announced the news today as Ottawa prepares for a national aboriginal day of action May 29 that could include highway and railroad blockades.
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| UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA The interior of of a classroom of St. Joseph's Residential School in Cross Lake, Man., is seen in this 1951 photo. |
Tensions have increased between First Nations and a federal government that has been accused of hard-hearted neglect of native poverty.
"This is going to be a very meaningful and respectful apology," Strahl said in Toronto.
Native leaders have stressed the need for such a crucial gesture "for many, many years," he added.
Today's announcement was a surprise to staff at the Assembly of First Nations office in Ottawa.
National Chief Phil Fontaine, who helped broker a massive compensation deal and hoped to help draft the apology, was not immediately available for comment. He raised the prospect in recent weeks that First Nations might reject the apology if it was used as a political ploy to mute protest on May 29.
Many among the roughly 90,000 surviving former students have stressed the importance of hearing the prime minister of Canada say he's sorry in the House of Commons.
The federal government admitted 10 years ago that physical and sexual abuse in the once-mandatory schools was rampant.
A five-year truth commission to hear from former students and staff across Canada will begin its work June 1.
About 150,000 children attended the now defunct church-run schools that were funded by Ottawa to "Christianize" aboriginal people. While some former students describe positive experiences, thousands sued Ottawa for often horrifying accounts of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of church staff and other pupils.
Many people recall being beaten for speaking their native languages and losing touch with their parents and customs.
A sad legacy of cultural rootlessness and addiction has often resulted, affecting generations of families to this day.
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